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With the departure of 3 of the 4 top defensemen on the team in the past two season there has been a real void left on the back end. Add to the aging forwards in the top 6 (Bert, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Sammy, Franzen all over 30 years old), the team has few options going forward. The first option is via trade and free agency acquire the pieces the wings are currently lacking (being a top 6 scoring winger and 2 top 4 d-men). The second option is the option I believe is the better way to address the systemic problems the wings have, and that's a short term rebuild. The process of rebuilding is not a fun one to watch, but, is one that has a lot of upside that trades and free agents don't bring. The first would be with the current CBA having good young players is rewarded because of how the Entry Level Contracts (ELCs) are step up to work, they are very friendly to the cap, as opposed to how free agency is today where any player that isn't locked up long term and hits the market is grossly overpaid for their services. Next would be that the process of rebuilding would mean that the prospects that haven't had a chance to cut their teeth in the NHL would get a chance to come up and play at the top level and gain valuable experience, in past years this has not been the cause and some players have not survived the trail by fire of coming up without waiver exemptions (Quiency, Ericsson, Kindl). Third it there is a benefit because the Wings do have a very good (and underrated) farm system, they have a lot of great talent on forward, and a lot of intriguing young D-men. Other teams are aware of this, and any trade would cost the wings some of this hard won prospect depth. Finally, if the wings don't make the playoffs in this rebuilding mode they have two other benefits, first a top ten draft pick, which they haven't had in over a decade, and the ability to trade players like Cleary or Bertuzzi to a contender for more draft picks or prospects. The first part, the top ten draft pick in most drafts (and looking to be true in the 2013 draft) as well are usually players that either are able to come into the NHL the following season and compete at a high level or are only 1-2 years of AHL play away from that. This would be perfect for the wings because they have a youth movement coming that would be supplemented by being able to add more youth to it. The second part, being sellers at the deadline... well I am sure everyone can remember the last 3 season and the gross overpayments made for players at the end of February, imagine a draft where the Wings have 1, 2 or even 3 top 40 picks? This not only gives them an even better prospect pool, but also gives them pieces to trade for NHL ready talent without having to do as much damage to the prospect depth. I know this is not what a lot of fans will want, and I really would love the wings to be a top contender for the cup next season, but, if I had to choose between one more run in the next 5 years, or taking a year or two where they rebuild and have another 20 years of success, well I'll take the latter everyday.